Dicks Sporting Goods - Corporate Firearm Policy

[Grapeshot]

I had to come into the area anyway this evening, so I OC'ed at Dicks. I needed barbell weights for my camera jib.

There are two here, The BIG Dick's and the Little Dicks on Rt 1.:lol: I went to the BIG Dick's in Short pump (which is a no guns area unless you go through a pro gun store front) and OC'ed right past their Security fellow. No one said a thing.

There are no signs of any kind I could see.

Like the classic story of The Three Little Pigs, there are 3 of them - funny how that works out.

The missing one is located in the Stoney Point Shopping Center just off of Chippenham Pkwy.

Been there maybe a half dozen times when they first opened - decided their prices were way too high and the selection of gun related things was poor. Have heard that they no longer carry handguns at that location - not confirmed though.

 

[twpetry]

Answer from a Dick's Employee

Hello everyone! I have been lurking on this site for a little while, but i just joined this site because I wanted to respond to this thread!

I have been working at the Dicks in Fredericksburg (Spotsylvania towne center) for about two years now. So perhaps I can shed a little light on this issue.

The official policy, and signs, that you all all referring to is in regards to firearms, specifically rifles and shotguns, that are being brought in for service: cleaning, bore sighting, etc... they must be checked in at the door, placed in the dicks gun case (even if you brought your own), and an associate must walk you back to the counter. When leaving, the process is reversed. If you are purchasing a gun from us, an associate must carry the gun out of the door then give you your new gun, if you are picking up your own gun from service, then your gun is returned to you at the door after you sign for the pick up.

As far as I know, Dick's as a company, is not against the lawful carry of firearms on their premises. However, Dick's as a company is generally terrible in training their employees, so you may encounter an ignorant employee who does not fully understand the policy and may ask for you to check in your firearm at the door. They are just trying to do their job as best as they can and trying to obey the policy as they understand it. If you are stopped by an employee and asked to check in your handgun, (if this does happen it will generally happen right at the door) my advice to you would be to politely refuse, and request to speak to a manger, and sit tight and wait for the manager to come over (dont try to walk through the store). When the manager arrives, politely explain that you are lawfully carrying an open firearm, and are not bringing it in for service. This should* take care of the problem while also educating the employees about policy they should already know about, but have received no training on. Again, to my knowledge, it is not the policy of Dick's Sporting Goods to not allow the lawful carry of firearms (especially handguns) on their premises. YMMV

On that note, just the other day I had an older gentleman come in the door and walk straight up to the customer service counter and tell the associate that he was a CCW holder and asked if he had to check in his handgun? :banghead: Other associates (over our walkie-talkies) kept saying that he had to check it in, finally i told them that he was not bringing it in for service he was just lawfully carrying a firearm, and that he should not have even told us he had it!! Obviously this gentleman was not very educated, and if i had not been working I would have taken a moment to educate him a little bit on what it means to be a CCW holder but I working.

So any way I hope that cleared things up a little bit.

 

[TFred]

Hello everyone! I have been lurking on this site for a little while, but i just joined this site because I wanted to respond to this thread!

I have been working at the Dicks in Fredericksburg (Spotsylvania towne center) for about two years now. So perhaps I can shed a little light on this issue.

The official policy, and signs, that you all all referring to is in regards to firearms, specifically rifles and shotguns, that are being brought in for service: cleaning, bore sighting, etc... they must be checked in at the door, placed in the dicks gun case (even if you brought your own), and an associate must walk you back to the counter. When leaving, the process is reversed. If you are purchasing a gun from us, an associate must carry the gun out of the door then give you your new gun, if you are picking up your own gun from service, then your gun is returned to you at the door after you sign for the pick up.

As far as I know, Dick's as a company, is not against the lawful carry of firearms on their premises. However, Dick's as a company is generally terrible in training their employees, so you may encounter an ignorant employee who does not fully understand the policy and may ask for you to check in your firearm at the door. They are just trying to do their job as best as they can and trying to obey the policy as they understand it. If you are stopped by an employee and asked to check in your handgun, (if this does happen it will generally happen right at the door) my advice to you would be to politely refuse, and request to speak to a manger, and sit tight and wait for the manager to come over (dont try to walk through the store). When the manager arrives, politely explain that you are lawfully carrying an open firearm, and are not bringing it in for service. This should* take care of the problem while also educating the employees about policy they should already know about, but have received no training on. Again, to my knowledge, it is not the policy of Dick's Sporting Goods to not allow the lawful carry of firearms (especially handguns) on their premises. YMMV

On that note, just the other day I had an older gentleman come in the door and walk straight up to the customer service counter and tell the associate that he was a CCW holder and asked if he had to check in his handgun? :banghead: Other associates (over our walkie-talkies) kept saying that he had to check it in, finally i told them that he was not bringing it in for service he was just lawfully carrying a firearm, and that he should not have even told us he had it!! Obviously this gentleman was not very educated, and if i had not been working I would have taken a moment to educate him a little bit on what it means to be a CCW holder but I working.

So any way I hope that cleared things up a little bit.

Thanks for posting, and welcome to OCDO! Glad to see another from FredVegas!

The answer is confirmed by just a little "what happens next" thinking. Whether concealed or openly carried, what is the logical conclusion of the request of the ill-educated employee? If I go to the store to look at some camping gear, or perhaps some hiking shoes, what happens after my gun is "checked in?" Is the employee going to escort me around the store while I shop? I did not come to go to the gun section, I have no intent to walk to that area of the store, so where is my gun during this time?

It would actually be somewhat amusing to let this play out and see how long it takes the employee to figure it out.

TFred

 

[Marco]

Thanks for posting, and welcome to OCDO! Glad to see another from FredVegas!

The answer is confirmed by just a little "what happens next" thinking. Whether concealed or openly carried, what is the logical conclusion of the request of the ill-educated employee? If I go to the store to look at some camping gear, or perhaps some hiking shoes, what happens after my gun is "checked in?" Is the employee going to escort me around the store while I shop? I did not come to go to the gun section, I have no intent to walk to that area of the store, so where is my gun during this time?

It would actually be somewhat amusing to let this play out and see how long it takes the employee to figure it out.

TFred

Can you honestly tell me you'd unload right there and hand your carry piece over to an employee just for laughs? sarcasm


Thanks for further clearing that up but I believe Jeep did a good job of that, and many of us already know that was the policy.

 

[peter nap]

Can you honestly tell me you'd unload right there and hand your carry piece over to an employee just for laughs? sarcasm

I'd like to give him a joke gun that fell apart:banana:

 

[cptstoney]

wo wow wow things have changed......

i worked at both gaylans and dicks in fair lakes and both are very anti carry!

i worked behind the gun counter when it was still galyans, we were not allowed to carry on the clock but we could carry loaded mags, so we stocked the top shelf of the glock section with .40 cal's . galyans was very anti carry for it customers too. ALL guns where to be checked and handled by an employee not matter what. if you didn't want my bogger hooks all over your shiney 1911, dont bring it in. gaylans also had some weird long gun policies, like no black rifles, no extended mags, no para military ext. but this isn't the forum to disscuss that.

dicks is so anti gun it's not even funny........ they are a non carry store the same as galyans. i asked multiple times when it changed hands and was told by the store mang., district mang., and corp that dicks is a non carry store. they sell guns to make money and thats it, they dont not care about the shooting community nor the sport of hunting. they killed the sale of handguns in the fair lakes location, that location was one of the number one gun counters on the east coast...... i would regularly have a $5k+ day in sales of guns alone, but alas dicks hates us.

i would also advise people not to have their guns serviced there, no one is trained at ALL! they may know how to sell stuff but i wouldn't trust bore sighting a scope much less any repair work(which is contracted out by the way)

i ended up leaving dicks after a month, i returned a few years later to run the bike dept., that didnt last long, dicks is one of the worst companies to work for hands down.


oh and all my buddies who worked with me at galyans either work for blue ridge arsenal or the NRA now. hell john boy works for aimpoint now

 

[Marco]

I'd like to give him a joke gun that fell apart:banana:

Now that would be funny..
All while exclaiming see what you did to my firearm.

i worked at both gaylans and dicks in fair lakes and both are very anti carry!

i worked behind the gun counter when it was still galyans, we were not allowed to carry on the clock but we could carry loaded mags, so we stocked the top shelf of the glock section with .40 cal's . galyans was very anti carry for it customers too. ALL guns where to be checked and handled by an employee not matter what. if you didn't want my bogger hooks all over your shiney 1911, dont bring it in. gaylans also had some weird long gun policies, like no black rifles, no extended mags, no para military ext. but this isn't the forum to disscuss that.

dicks is so anti gun it's not even funny........ they are a non carry store the same as galyans. i asked multiple times when it changed hands and was told by the store mang., district mang., and corp that dicks is a non carry store. they sell guns to make money and thats it, they dont not care about the shooting community nor the sport of hunting. they killed the sale of handguns in the fair lakes location, that location was one of the number one gun counters on the east coast...... i would regularly have a $5k+ day in sales of guns alone, but alas dicks hates us.

i would also advise people not to have their guns serviced there, no one is trained at ALL! they may know how to sell stuff but i wouldn't trust bore sighting a scope much less any repair work(which is contracted out by the way)

i ended up leaving dicks after a month, i returned a few years later to run the bike dept., that didnt last long, dicks is one of the worst companies to work for hands down.


oh and all my buddies who worked with me at galyans either work for blue ridge arsenal or the NRA now. hell john boy works for aimpoint now

The carry issue hasn't been my experience with Gaylan's (las vegas location) and Dick's (several VA locations from NoVA to central VA). Never had them service my firearms...

It sounds like you have a bone to pick with your former employeer more than anything else. That's just how I read it, I could be wrong but I don't think I am.

In fact I'll be heading to the nearest one this evening to check for sale items, openly carrying of course.

 

[cptstoney]

Now that would be funny..
All while exclaiming see what you did to my firearm.





The carry issue hasn't been my experience with Gaylan's (las vegas location) and Dick's (several VA locations from NoVA to central VA). Never had them service my firearms...

It sounds like you have a bone to pick with your former employeer more than anything else. That's just how I read it, I could be wrong but I don't think I am.

In fact I'll be heading to the nearest one this evening to check for sale items, openly carrying of course.

no bone to pick with either of them, I was sad when gaylans changed hands, it was a great store and carried alot more then your normal sporting goods shop.

I still buy stuff from dicks, their fishing section and shoe section get alot of my money. infact I just picked up a remy 597 from them this year
and I stop in to see what's on sale after I check out the sweet exotics at cars and coffee on Sunday mornings.


I do however have an issue with some of the old managers but not the corp. itself.

 

[Marco]

no bone to pick with either of them, I was sad when gaylans changed hands, it was a great store and carried alot more then your normal sporting goods shop.

I still buy stuff from dicks, their fishing section and shoe section get alot of my money. infact I just picked up a remy 597 from them this year
and I stop in to see what's on sale after I check out the sweet exotics at cars and coffee on Sunday mornings.


I do however have an issue with some of the old managers but not the corp. itself.

Like I said I could be wrong... I worked at BRA for about a month .. I couldn't stand the owners Earl/Debbie. I didn't bother to remember the names of most of my co-workers as I knew once I started I wouldn't be staying.. Robb???? post here on occassion, his real name is Andy...but he quit after the election iirc...
Mark (large guy, left handed) and John the armorer were decent guys, imho.

 

[DJEEPER]

I worked the bike dept for 2 years while working at the bike shop I have been for the past 11 years. I never had any issues because I always kept busy.... just sayin.

I work in lodge now...and its the same deal....

 

[DrMark]

Thanks for further clearing that up but I believe Jeep did a good job of that, and many of us already know that was the policy.

Yup, confirmed what Djeeper's been saying.

FWIW, I never knew Dick's ever carried handguns. Also, I've never heard of Gaylands... not sure what that has to do with Dick's.

 

[riverrat10k]

Dick's took over Geylen's stores in some markets.

 

[Dreamer]

I OCed in the Dicks at Fair Lakes without any problems last year, when I was helping a female friend of mine shop for a shotgun. She was looking for a Benelli semi-auto, and although they had it in stock, and were nice enough to get it down for us to examine, they did not know much about it, and sort of ran us an attitude. I had a custom-built Para Ordnance on my hip (worth more than ANY handgun they had on display) and my friend works for GAO and makes six figures, and they treated us like they thought we couldn't afford the Benelli M2 we were looking at. (and even though their asking price was inflated, my friend could have easily afforded to buy two or three on her budget...)

We were not impressed, and decided to go look elsewhere.

SO my takeaway was that although they were OC-tolerant, the staff was no knowledgeable in their product line and was snooty and presumptuous.

I would rather spend my money at a locally-owned shop or at Cabela's or Gander Mountain. The staff is usually nicer and more knowledgeable, and their prices are usually better.

 

[davidmcbeth]

I wouldn't tell anyone if my gun was loaded or not ... just walk in and tell them its none of their business .. if they ask you to leave, leave & buy it online

 

[Marco]

I wouldn't tell anyone if my gun was loaded or not ... just walk in and tell them its none of their business .. if they ask you to leave, leave & buy it online

Emphasis added, mine



If you would allow me, BUY SOMEWHERE ELSE, if possible.

 

[DJEEPER]

I OCed in the Dicks at Fair Lakes without any problems last year, when I was helping a female friend of mine shop for a shotgun. She was looking for a Benelli semi-auto, and although they had it in stock, and were nice enough to get it down for us to examine, they did not know much about it, and sort of ran us an attitude. I had a custom-built Para Ordnance on my hip (worth more than ANY handgun they had on display) and my friend works for GAO and makes six figures, and they treated us like they thought we couldn't afford the Benelli M2 we were looking at. (and even though their asking price was inflated, my friend could have easily afforded to buy two or three on her budget...)

We were not impressed, and decided to go look elsewhere.

SO my takeaway was that although they were OC-tolerant, the staff was no knowledgeable in their product line and was snooty and presumptuous.

I would rather spend my money at a locally-owned shop or at Cabela's or Gander Mountain. The staff is usually nicer and more knowledgeable, and their prices are usually better.

Unfortunately, with some of the coworkers I have had at Dicks, in lodge, your experience happens to others more that I can stand it. We get some people who just want to work in Lodge to be around real live guns....and they know nothing about them. One of them just made stuff up on the spot (buckshot at 100 yards with shotguns) and fed it to the customer, who I could tell was not buying it. I made sure to fix that problem as soon as it started.

Some people just have a hard time saying "I dont know the answer to your question but lets go do some research online real quick". They, instead, decide to make up some fantasy story and lie to the customer. Boy do I hate to hear/see/witness that!

 

[ryan7068]

OCDO-Virginia Corporate Firearm Policy for Open Carriers (j/k)

1. Know the law where it is illegal for you to carry a firearm.

2. Go about you day in a usual fashion entering every establishment you need without fear of consequence.

3. If asked to leave or put /lock your gun in you car, tell them they will be the highlight of much discussion as to their anti-freedom policy and will lose much business and then leave the property with a smile :lol: (of course if the person seem receptive, be willing and able to educate them before leaving)

 

[Dreamer]

If asked to leave or put /lock your gun in you car, tell them they will be the highlight of much discussion as to their anti-freedom policy and will lose much business and then leave the property with a smile :lol: (of course if the person seem receptive, be willing and able to educate them before leaving)

When I encounter anti-gun store managers, I reach into my wallet, hand them one of those cool little "no guns = no money" cards, tell them I will be reporting their policies on a NATIONAL open-carry forum with thousands of members, and that I will be taking my business (and money) somewhere that respects my rights, and politely leave.

 

[AbNo]

This thread is actually pretty relevant. There's a Dick's opening in the Harrisonburg mall soon.

Will have to scout it out when it's done.

I don't plan on buying anything, though, not after the "We don't sell >10 round magazines in Virginia" sign I saw at Short Pump.

 

[SouthernBoy]

I have been in the Gainesville, VA Dick's several times while OC'ing as well as the one in Manassas and have never had any problems. I was just in the one in Gainesville two days ago looking for a few non-gun items.